I organized the top 15 games that appeared on these charts( one chart only has up to 10th place, so 11~15 are only from two charts.) and made out a rough single chart of the top 15. It's hard to trust one site, but having three different charts and comparing them makes it a little more accurate, I hope. Oh, and the games are generally ranked by the % of the number of hours played in a PC bang. If you look at the first chart, you see that Sudden Attack is played the most times. However, it's only usually played for an average of 76 minutes at a time, while Aion is played for an average of 266 minutes while being played roughly half the times of SA.
1. AION / AION / Sudden Attack 2. Tera / Sudden Attack / AION 3. Sudden Attack / Tera / Tera 4. Warcraft 3 / Warcraft 3 / Warcraft 3 5. SC:BW / SC:BW / SC:BW 6. WoW / FIFA Online 2 / FIFA Online 2 7. FIFA Online 2 / WoW / WoW 8. Lineage / Dungeon Fighter/ Dungeon Fighter 9. Lineage 2 / Lineage 2 / Lineage 2 10. Freestyle Football / Lineage 1 / Lineage 1 11. Dungeon Fighter / ? / Freestyle Football 12. Special Force / ? / Special Force 13. SC2 / ? / SC2 14. 한게임 로우바둑이(a card game) / ? / Maple Story 15. Kart Rider / ? / Kart Rider
1. AION 2. Sudden Attack 3. Tera 4. Warcraft 3 5. SC:BW 6. FIFA Online 2 7. WoW 8. Dungeon Fighter 9. Lineage 2 10. Lineage 1 11. Freestyle Football 12. Special Force 13. SC2 14. No idea what to do about this one 15. Kart Rider
According to a guy friend of mine(who goes to them a LOT), he sees SC2 and WoW the most, and then Aion -> Mabinogi Heroes -> Warcraft 3 -> BW. He frequents PC bangs in Shinchon though, which is mainly full of university students while the PC bang rankings are of the overall population.
if i am not wrong, taiwan/korea plays another variant of dota called chaos? ( but that was a few years ago). Are they still playing that variant or they are playing the same one with the rest of the world?
On March 14 2011 02:21 darmousseh wrote: why would anyone play sc2 or wow at a pcbang when you have to own an account?
Maybe their computers at home can't handle the graphics? Or they play with friends and it's better to have 0 latency when talking in real life rather than vent/teamspeak
On March 14 2011 02:30 synapse wrote: I'm really don't understand how anyone can enjoy sudden attack...
And LOL people still play lineage 1? wow.
Sudden Attack is CS of Korea. Since Steam tried to do what Blizzard wanted to do with SC2 (monthly package instead of one-time package), people didn't pick up CS in Korea.
Well, at least we can take comfort knowing that SC2 is ranked above Maple Story. I would rage quite hard if it wasn't.
Nevertheless, it's both interesting and disappointing to see Koreans so interested in MMORPGs. Obviously, RTS games are a better, more tasteful choice of game.
On March 14 2011 03:15 eviltomahawk wrote: Well, at least we can take comfort knowing that SC2 is ranked above Maple Story. I would rage quite hard if it wasn't.
Nevertheless, it's both interesting and disappointing to see Koreans so interested in MMORPGs. Obviously, RTS games are a better, more tasteful choice of game.
On March 14 2011 02:21 darmousseh wrote: why would anyone play sc2 or wow at a pcbang when you have to own an account?
Maybe their computers at home can't handle the graphics? Or they play with friends and it's better to have 0 latency when talking in real life rather than vent/teamspeak
On March 14 2011 02:21 darmousseh wrote: why would anyone play sc2 or wow at a pcbang when you have to own an account?
Maybe their computers at home can't handle the graphics? Or they play with friends and it's better to have 0 latency when talking in real life rather than vent/teamspeak
WoW nor SC2 have LAN.
He means when you communicate. There's definitely a slight delay with Ventrilo, although I haven't noticed it in Skype.
Surprised not to see Legend of Mir on this list, I thought that was supposed to be huge in KR.
Starcraft 2 actually dropping? I didn't expect that. Seems like it might go the way of CS in Korea doesn't it right now? From what people say PC Bangs seemed pretty damn important for the rise of BW, so to see SC2 doing how it is, it's worrying for its potential as an eSport over there.
1. Can't believe Lineage is still played XD 2. Can't believe Kart Rider is so low. Isn't that suuuuuuuuper popular over there? I guess was is now the correct term.
On March 14 2011 01:12 yoonyoon wrote:According to a guy friend of mine(who goes to them a LOT), he sees SC2 and WoW the most, and then Aion -> Mabinogi Heroes -> Warcraft 3 -> BW. He frequents PC bangs in Shinchon though, which is mainly full of university students while the PC bang rankings are of the overall population.
Might I suggest that the ranks can be touched up to make SC2 and WoW, both current flagship Blizzard titles seem less relevant? I have no proof obviously, but it is not out of the question, especially in such a politically motivated industry in a country ingrained with little politics.
Because if you think about it - if the university students are playing SC2 far more than BW, then who is there to play BW to triple SC2's playing time? High-schoolers? Why would they play something far older and less "shiny"? Office workers? Where do they get the time?
If what your friend says is indicative of the university population, then these figures dont make sense.
I don't get the whole "you need a nice computer to play SC2" argument...
Maybe if you want to play on ultra with high res... My 2 year old 500 dollar laptop can even run SC2 on low settings.
Is the computer situation in Korea really so bad that most people don't have a machine that can run SC2?
I think it has a lot more to do with the fact that most people are casual gamers and thus RPGs have a much broader appeal, and that Brood War is still very popular so most hardcore RTS types are sticking to that instead of moving to SC2.
On March 14 2011 07:01 Reason.SC2 wrote: I don't get the whole "you need a nice computer to play SC2" argument...
Maybe if you want to play on ultra with high res... My 2 year old 500 dollar laptop can even run SC2 on low settings.
Is the computer situation in Korea really so bad that most people don't have a machine that can run SC2?
I think it has a lot more to do with the fact that most people are casual gamers and thus RPGs have a much broader appeal, and that Brood War is still very popular so most hardcore RTS types are sticking to that instead of moving to SC2.
Good computer is a relative term. Think about it this way, what use besides gaming, graphics design, or a few other specialized functions do things like graphics cards, >1gb ram (>2gb on 7 or other shiner OS's), or fast processors have? Answer, not much, and in particular not much an average computer user needs. I know plenty of people who use a single netbook as their exclusive computer, because it's all they need. Hell, for a year and a half i was one of these people, when i didn't have enough time to do any gaming at all.
Simply put, unless you plan on gaming or a few other more intense tasks, there's no reason to buy a computer that can run Sc2. Thus, a lot more people than you'd expect won't have such a computer.
Right, but PC Bangs should be equipped with computers that are prepped for gaming, so that wouldn't explain them not running SC2.
And gamers should also have gaming-capable computers. It isn't exactly expensive. Again, I purchased this notebook almost 2 years ago for only 500 dollars and even it can run SC2. Its not like you need to shell out 2 thousand every year for a new gaming rig to be able to play games.
The people you're describing certainly exist everywhere (that have a 8 year old comp used only for e-mail and typing stuff on word). These aren't gamers though so they shouldn't affect the statistics here.
On March 14 2011 07:01 Reason.SC2 wrote: I don't get the whole "you need a nice computer to play SC2" argument...
Maybe if you want to play on ultra with high res... My 2 year old 500 dollar laptop can even run SC2 on low settings.
Is the computer situation in Korea really so bad that most people don't have a machine that can run SC2?
I think it has a lot more to do with the fact that most people are casual gamers and thus RPGs have a much broader appeal, and that Brood War is still very popular so most hardcore RTS types are sticking to that instead of moving to SC2.
Well sc2 graphics is pretty much the only thing that is better than bw, so if they can't use the high graphics then its terrible lol
On March 14 2011 07:25 fams wrote: As two others have indicated, it isn't DotA that is super popular in Korea, but Chaos a similar game. It is quite big in Korea : )
Yes, nobody plays Dota in Korea they are actually playing warcraft 3
On March 14 2011 07:18 Reason.SC2 wrote: Right, but PC Bangs should be equipped with computers that are prepped for gaming, so that wouldn't explain them not running SC2. And gamers should also have gaming-capable computers. It isn't exactly expensive. Again, I purchased this notebook almost 2 years ago for only 500 dollars and even it can run SC2. Its not like you need to shell out 2 thousand every year for a new gaming rig to be able to play games.
The people you're describing certainly exist everywhere (that have a 8 year old comp used only for e-mail and typing stuff on word). These aren't gamers though so they shouldn't affect the statistics here.
I think you're overestimating the amount of money most people have to spare...
On March 14 2011 02:23 Slardar wrote: All hail Defense of the Ancients! . What is Sudden Attack? I also can't believe Aion is in the #1 spot..the mass grindfest game which was imbalanced.
Sudden Attack is a game that is very similar to CS. A bit different, but basically a competitive team FPS. Without vehicles and on mostly smallish maps, same as CS. Many different modes to play in, but the most popular is the bomb mode as in CS.
On March 14 2011 01:12 yoonyoon wrote:According to a guy friend of mine(who goes to them a LOT), he sees SC2 and WoW the most, and then Aion -> Mabinogi Heroes -> Warcraft 3 -> BW. He frequents PC bangs in Shinchon though, which is mainly full of university students while the PC bang rankings are of the overall population.
Might I suggest that the ranks can be touched up to make SC2 and WoW, both current flagship Blizzard titles seem less relevant? I have no proof obviously, but it is not out of the question, especially in such a politically motivated industry in a country ingrained with little politics.
Because if you think about it - if the university students are playing SC2 far more than BW, then who is there to play BW to triple SC2's playing time? High-schoolers? Why would they play something far older and less "shiny"? Office workers? Where do they get the time?
If what your friend says is indicative of the university population, then these figures dont make sense.
How did my comment about my friend turn into a SC2 conspiracy theory? I just added that in because I don't go to PC bangs often and I wanted input of a guy friend who did.
On March 14 2011 02:23 Slardar wrote: All hail Defense of the Ancients! . What is Sudden Attack? I also can't believe Aion is in the #1 spot..the mass grindfest game which was imbalanced.
I think you're just too used to being handed free stuff like most American MMOs. Aion is hardly a "grindfest" (much easier to level than EverQuest was), and the PvP is infinitely more balanced than PvP in WoW is.
It's not surprising at all that it's the most played game in Korea. It's an extremely good game... it just never took off in the NA market because people here are used to watered down games like WoW and refuse to play anything where they have to put in effort to get somewhere. Asian cultures, on the other hand, tend to prefer games where their time and effort is rewarded based on what they put in so it makes sense to see Aion and TERA up there.
On March 14 2011 02:23 Slardar wrote: All hail Defense of the Ancients! . What is Sudden Attack? I also can't believe Aion is in the #1 spot..the mass grindfest game which was imbalanced.
Sudden Attack is a game that is very similar to CS. A bit different, but basically a competitive team FPS. Without vehicles and on mostly smallish maps, same as CS. Many different modes to play in, but the most popular is the bomb mode as in CS.
I think it's safe to say SC2 hasn't really caught on in korea since the rates have been dropping. Let's see if the release of expansions can change this (I sort of doubt it)
Just add lan and sc2 will be instantly top 3. I bet many future bonjwa kids,random casual gamers dont give a fuck/dont know how to create a stupid battlenet account. Why waste so much time,Im gonna play bw instead,where the game starts in 5 sec after sitting down
On March 14 2011 09:28 Arceus wrote: Just add lan and sc2 will be instantly top 3. I bet many future bonjwa kids,random casual gamers dont give a fuck/dont know how to create a stupid battlenet account. Why waste so much time,Im gonna play bw instead,where the game starts in 5 sec after sitting down
and they are playing aion, terra, and bw through lan rite?
On March 14 2011 02:21 darmousseh wrote: why would anyone play sc2 or wow at a pcbang when you have to own an account?
You can play it at a PC bang without having to buy a boxed copy. The way the buisness model is set up, 25% (according to what superdanielman said) of the hourly fee you pay at a PC bang goes to Blizzard. You still need a Korean account though.
damn, I knew WC3 was popular in china, and dota was especially still popular there, but for some reason i had some feeling that league of legends may have taken over but i guess not.
As the only person to ever report DF (heck even the Korean journos don't care about it.) this makes me weirdly proud. I loved going to those leagues - the players were total lunatics, and so welcoming.
1. AION / AION / Sudden Attack 2. Tera / Sudden Attack / AION 3. Sudden Attack / Tera / Tera 4. Warcraft 3 / Warcraft 3 / Warcraft 3 5. SC:BW / SC:BW / SC:BW 6. WoW / FIFA Online 2 / FIFA Online 2 7. FIFA Online 2 / WoW / WoW 8. Lineage / Dungeon Fighter/ Dungeon Fighter 9. Lineage 2 / Lineage 2 / Lineage 2 10. Freestyle Football / Lineage 1 / Lineage 1 11. Dungeon Fighter / ? / Freestyle Football 12. Special Force / ? / Special Force 13. SC2 / ? / SC2 14. 한게임 로우바둑이(a card game) / ? / Maple Story 15. Kart Rider / ? / Kart Rider
1. AION 2. Sudden Attack 3. Tera 4. Warcraft 3 5. SC:BW 6. FIFA Online 2 7. WoW 8. Dungeon Fighter 9. Lineage 2 10. Lineage 1 11. Freestyle Football 12. Special Force 13. SC2 14. No idea what to do about this one 15. Kart Rider
According to a guy friend of mine(who goes to them a LOT), he sees SC2 and WoW the most, and then Aion -> Mabinogi Heroes -> Warcraft 3 -> BW. He frequents PC bangs in Shinchon though, which is mainly full of university students while the PC bang rankings are of the overall population.
most korean exchange students ive talked to don't seem too interested in sc2 or even arent aware its out. usually i find having this conversation with them when they ask me how to run BW on vista/7.
It could also be the regional thing though. being able to play with their friends back home does factor in i guess.
On March 14 2011 01:12 yoonyoon wrote:According to a guy friend of mine(who goes to them a LOT), he sees SC2 and WoW the most, and then Aion -> Mabinogi Heroes -> Warcraft 3 -> BW. He frequents PC bangs in Shinchon though, which is mainly full of university students while the PC bang rankings are of the overall population.
Might I suggest that the ranks can be touched up to make SC2 and WoW, both current flagship Blizzard titles seem less relevant? I have no proof obviously, but it is not out of the question, especially in such a politically motivated industry in a country ingrained with little politics.
Because if you think about it - if the university students are playing SC2 far more than BW, then who is there to play BW to triple SC2's playing time? High-schoolers? Why would they play something far older and less "shiny"? Office workers? Where do they get the time?
If what your friend says is indicative of the university population, then these figures dont make sense.
I think it might just be the particular PC bang he goes to. I see more people of all ages playing BW than SC2 at the one I go to. I would believe the figures over one person's anecdotal evidence anyway.
Blizzard went out of their way to make sc2 as innacessable to the average Korean and as difficult for the pc bang owners as possible. It's as simple as that.
Not surprised to see WC3 so high; there are huge "areas" in the WC3 community; DotA, Melee, and Customs for people who want to relax or for casual gamers.
A bit sad to see SC2 "so low," but to be fair the other games are also very popular, especially since MMOs are so time consuming. It's a little surprise to me to see Maplestory lower than many other RPGs though; perhaps there's less demand to play Maplestory at a PC Bang since it doesn't require good graphics and some people may play at PC Bangs for good graphics xD
Its amazing to see after 12 years and BW still in the top 5. As someone stated earlier, almost noone in Korea play Dota.
For people think that Koreans go to PC Bangs because their computer can't handle SC2 graphic, you guys are being ridiculous. Its the way gaming in Korea works and in many other Asian countries as well.
I have a PC capable of running Crysis 2 and still I find myself going out to PC Bang at least one a week with some of my friends and we always have great fun together. The ability for 5 friends to sit next to each other playing some BW, Dota and chatting, yelling at each other is incomparable fun and super satisfying.
The account based SC2 really kill people's interest in it. Blizzard doesnt realize that people need a simple way to try out SC2 before they can like the game. With BW or WC3, if the PC Bang have a legit of the game, countless of people can try out in matter of seconds(really love the way old Bnet let you register a new account in like 10secs)
SC2 on the other hand, is more like an online game when the client itself is FREE, but to register for an account take ages(compare to 10 secs from old Bnet) and money. Didn't surprise me when SC2 is 15th in Korea, I wasn't expected it to be in top 20.
My friend was there over the summer at sc2 release. He said that PC bangs are more suited for groups of friends going and playing, and that the average korean teen doesn't go out to a PC bang to practice, as you would with BW.
On March 14 2011 02:23 Slardar wrote: All hail Defense of the Ancients! . What is Sudden Attack? I also can't believe Aion is in the #1 spot..the mass grindfest game which was imbalanced.
I think you're just too used to being handed free stuff like most American MMOs. Aion is hardly a "grindfest" (much easier to level than EverQuest was), and the PvP is infinitely more balanced than PvP in WoW is.
It's not surprising at all that it's the most played game in Korea. It's an extremely good game... it just never took off in the NA market because people here are used to watered down games like WoW and refuse to play anything where they have to put in effort to get somewhere. Asian cultures, on the other hand, tend to prefer games where their time and effort is rewarded based on what they put in so it makes sense to see Aion and TERA up there.
I did put a bad spin on Aion, that is not my intention. I truly did enjoy that game, possibly my favorite MMORPG(even though I only played it for a few months)as you said, it never took off in NA and I'm sad about that. I hit 50 in Aion relatively quickly(from the NA release) and I played one of the worst characters to grind with, a Gladiator. I stopped at 2/5 Fenris gear before I quit and the game was going kind of under. Was also consistently top #10 on my PvP side ^^. Eh... Aion was good times... I wish the game was balanced more around smaller group plays though as opposed to 100x100 balance. Some classes naturally grind less effectively, thus level slower, thus are always behind the pack. GLADIATORS AOE FIGHTING! <3
TLDR - Aion is one of the best MMORPG's I've had the fortune to play, I didn't mean to give it a bad rap. It is just sad that it never took off in NA thanks to people used to getting handed freebies. Kiss me.. K-k-KISS ME, infect me with your lovin , fill me with your poison.
for all those wondering, in korea it only costs 30-70 cents an hour to use a pcbang computer [at least the last time i was in korea] so a four hour session would be 1.20-2.80 dollars for the occasional gamer, elementary, middle, high school, collge student this is much cheaper than a 800 dollar computer to run at med or low. vs high at a pc bang with fast internet. also there is one down just about every block and alley.
as for why sc2 isnt in the top rankings is cuz its expensive initial price. everyone could play sc bw. but those same people dont have 60 dollars to pay. also no lan and a very poor battlenet custom game system. also just like how sc bw wasnt popular till the game got balanced. sc2 isnt complete right now. the storyline isnt even complete nor the balancing. once thats done i think popularity will rise.
edit: accidently pressed post
___ i apolgize for bad grammar etc... on my samsung epic
On March 15 2011 11:04 DayMonki wrote: for all those wondering, in korea it only costs 30-70 cents an hour to use a pcbang computer [at least the last time i was in korea] so a four hour session would be 1.20-2.80 dollars for the occasional gamer, elementary, middle, high school, collge student this is much cheaper than a 800 dollar computer to run at med or low. vs high at a pc bang with fast internet. also there is one down just about every block and alley.
as for why sc2 isnt in the top rankings is
erm.. Did you go to Korea 10 years ago? When PC Bangs first came out towards the end of the 1990's I remember it was about 500won/hour. There's a still a pretty big gap in hourly rates depending on where you play, but even my local PC Bang charges 1,300won/hour now. (I've seen it go as high as 2,000won/hour)
[edit] I would still say it's cheap for the entertainment you get.. just saying it's not as cheap as it used to be.. (like everything else actually )
On March 15 2011 11:04 DayMonki wrote: for all those wondering, in korea it only costs 30-70 cents an hour to use a pcbang computer [at least the last time i was in korea] so a four hour session would be 1.20-2.80 dollars for the occasional gamer, elementary, middle, high school, collge student this is much cheaper than a 800 dollar computer to run at med or low. vs high at a pc bang with fast internet. also there is one down just about every block and alley.
as for why sc2 isnt in the top rankings is
erm.. Did you go to Korea 10 years ago? When PC Bangs first came out towards the end of the 1990's I remember it was about 500won/hour. There's a still a pretty big gap in hourly rates depending on where you play, but even my local PC Bang charges 1,300won/hour now. (I've seen it go as high as 2,000won/hour)
[edit] I would still say it's cheap for the entertainment you get.. just saying it's not as cheap as it used to be.. (like everything else actually )
I'm jealous, I remember paying $4 an hour at my local internet cafe here in NYC back around 2000 or so. That was a bitch to pay as a HS student...
erm.. Did you go to Korea 10 years ago? When PC Bangs first came out towards the end of the 1990's I remember it was about 500won/hour. There's a still a pretty big gap in hourly rates depending on where you play, but even my local PC Bang charges 1,300won/hour now. (I've seen it go as high as 2,000won/hour)
[edit] I would still say it's cheap for the entertainment you get.. just saying it's not as cheap as it used to be.. (like everything else actually )
Lol.... Um... its been 6 years I think since i've lived there. It was when taxi was still 1500 won base rate. Well PC Bang went from 300-2000 depending on whether it was an underground shack full of cigarette smoke vs a nice place with a smoke free area, food service etc.
I guess Im not too surprised prices went up. I still think there are nice places under 1000, As I did go back 2 years ago and I played at 700 won an hour.
Here in la jolla, It's like 5 dollars an hour, and 15 for a day... Sorta priceyy sad...
In line with a couple of the people above, I do have a computer capable of running SC2 on ultra... but find myself playing SCBW/Dota with friends at a local PC cafe much more often than alone on Bnet/iccup.
*edit: oh and for PC cafe price, it's $5 for membership card (with smart chip so you can plug into a computer and it tracks your hours) and then 10hrs/$20 (CAD) afterwards. Great deal imo.
IDK what it is about pc bangs that foreigners cant get. Alcohol is fucking expensive as hell at bars yet they all go throw money at the place every weekend. why not drink at home? answers obvious. PC bang isnt even as overpriced as bars selling drinks for the service they provide. simple as that.
On March 15 2011 15:32 NIJ wrote: IDK what it is about pc bangs that foreigners cant get. Alcohol is fucking expensive as hell at bars yet they all go throw money at the place every weekend. why not drink at home? answers obvious. PC bang isnt even as overpriced as bars selling drinks for the service they provide. simple as that.
Maybe they just don't have any near them? Personally, I never thought of why people would want to do that until I read some responses in this thread. There aren't many PCbang type places around here. Hell, the only place I even know of that does this sort of thing is a local Play n Trade that rents out their PS3, 360 or Wii systems for $10 an hour and lets you play any game they have in stock on their 32" TVs.
We need to teach them to play LoL. Its making quite the ruckus in Europe, im sure it will get big there too if we teach them on the subject.
TLDR - Aion is one of the best MMORPG's I've had the fortune to play, I didn't mean to give it a bad rap. It is just sad that it never took off in NA thanks to people used to getting handed freebies. Kiss Last edit: 2011-03-14 16:59:53 me.. K-k-KISS ME, infect me with your lovin , fill me with your poison.
Uhh its a total grind fest. Grind-on would be an appropriate nickname. Its just insane how that game punishes its players, that kind of gameplay has no place in 2011.
On March 16 2011 04:23 xarthaz wrote: We need to teach them to play LoL. Its making quite the ruckus in Europe, im sure it will get big there too if we teach them on the subject.
TLDR - Aion is one of the best MMORPG's I've had the fortune to play, I didn't mean to give it a bad rap. It is just sad that it never took off in NA thanks to people used to getting handed freebies. Kiss Last edit: 2011-03-14 16:59:53 me.. K-k-KISS ME, infect me with your lovin , fill me with your poison.
Uhh its a total grind fest. Grind-on would be an appropriate nickname. Its just insane how that game punishes its players, that kind of gameplay has no place in 2011.
Well I guess I could imagine Aion being super fun in PC Bangs. There is nothing more exciting than playing an impossible level with your friends and feeling the adrenaline and hardship right next to them.
On March 16 2011 04:46 HowSoOnIsNow wrote: I wanna play AION now hahahahah!! It`s sad though that there`s so many CS clones out in korea...
They're not clones of CS. They're better in many ways like easier to find clan matches, there are rankings, many game modes, different knives and nades, etc. Also, the gameplay is very different on every game.
On March 16 2011 05:00 Half wrote: I like how Starcraft 2 is fucking free if you have WoW and still nobody plays it
lol.
How is it more free than any other game in pc bangs? -_-
I think it's actually more expensive to play than other non MMO games
If you don't subscribe to wow or you didn't buy the actual retail copy for $50 it's 1000krw an hour or you can buy 30 day or 24 hour passes, in addition to whatever rate you pay at the pc bang, unless they have changed it since release
SC2 used to be top 10 (only like, 10th place though) only when they had the game free for anyone with a bnet account for a while. After that it never caught on.
I honestly don't expect it will improve, really. MMORPGs are too addictive to substitute away from :O
On March 14 2011 02:23 Slardar wrote: All hail Defense of the Ancients! . What is Sudden Attack? I also can't believe Aion is in the #1 spot..the mass grindfest game which was imbalanced.
I think you're just too used to being handed free stuff like most American MMOs. Aion is hardly a "grindfest" (much easier to level than EverQuest was), and the PvP is infinitely more balanced than PvP in WoW is.
It's not surprising at all that it's the most played game in Korea. It's an extremely good game... it just never took off in the NA market because people here are used to watered down games like WoW and refuse to play anything where they have to put in effort to get somewhere. Asian cultures, on the other hand, tend to prefer games where their time and effort is rewarded based on what they put in so it makes sense to see Aion and TERA up there.
I did put a bad spin on Aion, that is not my intention. I truly did enjoy that game, possibly my favorite MMORPG(even though I only played it for a few months)as you said, it never took off in NA and I'm sad about that. I hit 50 in Aion relatively quickly(from the NA release) and I played one of the worst characters to grind with, a Gladiator. I stopped at 2/5 Fenris gear before I quit and the game was going kind of under. Was also consistently top #10 on my PvP side ^^. Eh... Aion was good times... I wish the game was balanced more around smaller group plays though as opposed to 100x100 balance. Some classes naturally grind less effectively, thus level slower, thus are always behind the pack. GLADIATORS AOE FIGHTING! <3
TLDR - Aion is one of the best MMORPG's I've had the fortune to play, I didn't mean to give it a bad rap. It is just sad that it never took off in NA thanks to people used to getting handed freebies. Kiss me.. K-k-KISS ME, infect me with your lovin , fill me with your poison.
I had to quit playing the NA version because most people were god awful at it, which made PvP a nightmare. It was great being one of the best players on my server when I was going around ganking people, but when the fortress raids set in and most players were completely braindead...
I did have a level 45 Templar in KR Aion during the NA beta, though. I can honestly say that even the worst players I saw on the KR server were as good, if not better, than the best players I was seeing on the NA servers. This probably helps explain why it's so popular in Korea, too. Aion is generally regarded as a "grindfest" in NA because most people are bad at it and feel it's too hard. As I mentioned earlier, it was harder to level up in EverQuest back in the day. It's just that these days people expect to go from buying the game to max level in full gear within a week like you can in WoW (back when I started a Druid during BC, I went from level 1 to main tanking Sunwell in under two weeks without using any experience boosts like Refer-A-Friend).
Games like Aion and TERA, on the other hand, require you to actually put in some effort to get anywhere, and most NA players just don't want to do that. Perhaps this has to due with the social aspect a bit... as in Korea you don't pay much attention to the extra effort because you're chatting with your friends while you play. I'm willing to bet that people here would be more inviting to asian MMOs if we had the cafe structure they have. Simply put, it's one of those things where social interaction improves the gameplay experience dramatically, and we just don't have that level of social interaction here in the US.
All in all, it only takes about 15 days /played to hit max level in Aion (this was back at release, and experience gains have been increased numerous times since then). I don't feel that 360 hours is much of a time investment to hit max level. That's 2-3 months tops for any semi-serious players. Compared to EverQuest back in the day which took literally days just to get a single level, it's hardly a grind. It's just not dumbed down for casual players like most games are these days, and most importantly you don't have to wait until max level to do anything. You can effectively PvP at many stages throughout the game, so there's really no rush to get to max level. I also think that's why it's popular in cafes, as people can take their time actually experiencing the game and enjoying it the whole way, as opposed to WoW where anything pre-endgame is boring and meaningless, so the only logical thing to do is rush through the game to get to the end.
And sorry for all the WoW comparisons, but it's the only other MMO I've played in recent years so I have direct experience in comparing the two. You hit endgame in WoW and you only need to log in for 6-7 hours a week, whereas in Aion there's much more to do so people tend to be more active - thus the amount of played time in cafes.
On March 14 2011 02:23 Slardar wrote: All hail Defense of the Ancients! . What is Sudden Attack? I also can't believe Aion is in the #1 spot..the mass grindfest game which was imbalanced.
I think you're just too used to being handed free stuff like most American MMOs. Aion is hardly a "grindfest" (much easier to level than EverQuest was), and the PvP is infinitely more balanced than PvP in WoW is.
It's not surprising at all that it's the most played game in Korea. It's an extremely good game... it just never took off in the NA market because people here are used to watered down games like WoW and refuse to play anything where they have to put in effort to get somewhere. Asian cultures, on the other hand, tend to prefer games where their time and effort is rewarded based on what they put in so it makes sense to see Aion and TERA up there.
AION is great as a MMO but it's really frustrating to waste weeks of farming (yes weeks, if not more) to HAVE A 20% CHANCE to craft the stuff you need to finish your quest (or just craft an equipment u need, sometimes it's even lower than 20%), otherwise you start back from scratch.
AION is too % luck based, you are not really rewarded for efforts, you barely see drops too... you might find it hardcore but i think it's in a stupid level of hardcore (luck does not equal hard in my book).
Everyone always says that Koreans like this type of dicey MMOs hence the community they have... who knows.
On March 14 2011 02:23 Slardar wrote: All hail Defense of the Ancients! . What is Sudden Attack? I also can't believe Aion is in the #1 spot..the mass grindfest game which was imbalanced.
I think you're just too used to being handed free stuff like most American MMOs. Aion is hardly a "grindfest" (much easier to level than EverQuest was), and the PvP is infinitely more balanced than PvP in WoW is.
It's not surprising at all that it's the most played game in Korea. It's an extremely good game... it just never took off in the NA market because people here are used to watered down games like WoW and refuse to play anything where they have to put in effort to get somewhere. Asian cultures, on the other hand, tend to prefer games where their time and effort is rewarded based on what they put in so it makes sense to see Aion and TERA up there.
AION is great as a MMO but it's really frustrating to waste weeks of farming (yes weeks, if not more) to HAVE A 20% CHANCE to craft the stuff you need to finish your quest (or just craft an equipment u need, sometimes it's even lower than 20%), otherwise you start back from scratch.
AION is too % luck based, you are not really rewarded for efforts, you barely see drops too... you might find it hardcore but i think it's in a stupid level of hardcore (luck does not equal hard in my book).
Everyone always says that Koreans like this type of dicey MMOs hence the community they have... who knows.
I can agree with this. While the actual gameplay of Aion isn't grind-based in the least, the item system could stand to be reworked. It's a bit hardcore at the moment - and not just the drop rate of items, but the time commitment required to purchase or craft them as well.
That being said, WoW's item system is far too easy, so I'd like to see something somewhere in between the two for future MMOs.
On March 14 2011 02:23 Slardar wrote: All hail Defense of the Ancients! . What is Sudden Attack? I also can't believe Aion is in the #1 spot..the mass grindfest game which was imbalanced.
I think you're just too used to being handed free stuff like most American MMOs. Aion is hardly a "grindfest" (much easier to level than EverQuest was), and the PvP is infinitely more balanced than PvP in WoW is.
It's not surprising at all that it's the most played game in Korea. It's an extremely good game... it just never took off in the NA market because people here are used to watered down games like WoW and refuse to play anything where they have to put in effort to get somewhere. Asian cultures, on the other hand, tend to prefer games where their time and effort is rewarded based on what they put in so it makes sense to see Aion and TERA up there.
AION is great as a MMO but it's really frustrating to waste weeks of farming (yes weeks, if not more) to HAVE A 20% CHANCE to craft the stuff you need to finish your quest (or just craft an equipment u need, sometimes it's even lower than 20%), otherwise you start back from scratch.
AION is too % luck based, you are not really rewarded for efforts, you barely see drops too... you might find it hardcore but i think it's in a stupid level of hardcore (luck does not equal hard in my book).
Everyone always says that Koreans like this type of dicey MMOs hence the community they have... who knows.
Ah...now you`ve made the game look horrendous. I remember the good ol` Ragnarok days....^__^
I hope I get an invite to the first TERA closed beta, game looks like a lot of fun. Definitely can't play the Korean version from U.S. west coast though, latency would kill me. Not to mention I don't know any Korean at all...
Also, all of you talking about grindy MMOs are small-time if you've never played Nexus TK (Baram in Korean), where you literally never stop grinding for health/mana/stats. People are still playing it after 12 years and increasing their characters stats.
On March 16 2011 05:00 Half wrote: I like how Starcraft 2 is fucking free if you have WoW and still nobody plays it
lol.
There could be a huge disparity between PC bangs whether they have computers to run SC2 or not. alot of the other games are low graphics or have the ability to drop a ton of the graphics. SC2 kind of requires a good computer to be playable, which is a big thing for PC Bangs to support, they have to have a bunch of much more expensive computers.
On March 16 2011 05:00 Half wrote: I like how Starcraft 2 is fucking free if you have WoW and still nobody plays it
lol.
There could be a huge disparity between PC bangs whether they have computers to run SC2 or not. alot of the other games are low graphics or have the ability to drop a ton of the graphics. SC2 kind of requires a good computer to be playable, which is a big thing for PC Bangs to support, they have to have a bunch of much more expensive computers.
nah tera (no.2 game) is almost as demanding as sc2 (maybe more, not completely sure)
On March 16 2011 05:00 Half wrote: I like how Starcraft 2 is fucking free if you have WoW and still nobody plays it
lol.
There could be a huge disparity between PC bangs whether they have computers to run SC2 or not. alot of the other games are low graphics or have the ability to drop a ton of the graphics. SC2 kind of requires a good computer to be playable, which is a big thing for PC Bangs to support, they have to have a bunch of much more expensive computers.
nah tera (no.2 game) is almost as demanding as sc2 (maybe more, not completely sure)
it's also an MMO, and MMOs are also insanely popular on a number of hours played basis.
EPT![[image loading]](http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/8933/77014572.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/9407/35504428.png)
![[image loading]](http://img862.imageshack.us/img862/5836/88146923.png)
. What is Sudden Attack? I also can't believe Aion is in the #1 spot..the mass grindfest game which was imbalanced. 
